Spring assembly



Aug. 1, 1944. E, ROBEY 2,354,834

SPRING ASSEMBLY Filed NOV. 14, 1942 IN V EN TOR. fdaara 4 0$? PatentedAug. 1, 1944 UNITED STATES "PATENT OFFICE 2,354,834 SPRING ASSEMBLYEdward Robey, Los Angeles, Application November 14, 1942, Serial No.465,531

7 Claims. (01. -255) I My invention relates generally to springassemblies for use in mattresses, box springs, overstufied furniture,and the like, and particularly to springs using wood instead of metal.

For many years, practically all furniture springs have been made ofmetal, but with the present shortage of metal, it has become necessaryto turn to other materials, such as wood, for example, which call forthe application of an entirely new technique in the making of springsand assembling them in articles of furniture. While the resilience ofcertain kinds of wood has been used in the past in the art of makingsprings, none of the prior devices were sufiiciently satisfactory tosuccessfully compete with metal springs, and it is consequentlyone ofthe major objects of my invention to provide a non metallic springassembly which is not only timely, due

to the shortage of metal, but which can successfully compete with metalsprings in a given price-.

quality range.

. It is also an object of my invention to provide a spring assemblywhich can be made of wood or other non-metallic resilient material at arelatively low cost and with a minimum of equipment.

A further object of my invention is to provide individual spring unitswhich are readily interchangeable and not subject to failure.

Another object of my invention is the production of multiple springunits which can be assembled in various ways to meet particularrequirements.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a non-metallicspring unit which can be flexed when assembled in an article offurniture without frictional wear on the covering cloth, and withoutdanger of failure. 7

These and other objects and. advantages of my invention will becomeapparent from the following description of a preferred form thereof, andfrom a consideration of the attached drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a single unit spring assembly in unflexedcondition, I v

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the unflexed as sembly of Fig. 1, i r

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the'spring assembly of Fig. 1 in partiallyflexed condition mounted on a base board in an article of furniture,

Fig. 4 is aside elevation of the spring of Fig.-

3 in substantially fully'flexed condition,

'Fig. 5 is a side elevation of a'plural assembly in unflexed condition,

rii spring 1 Fig. 6 is a top plan view of the spring shown in Fig. 5,

Fig. 7 is a side elevation of the plural spring of Fig. 5 in partiallyflexed condition.

Fig. 8 is a side elevation of the spring assembly of Fig. '7 in fullyflexed condition, and i Fig. 9 is a vertical cross-section taken on theline 99 of Fig. 1.

' Referring now to Figs. 1 to 4, the spring assembly of my inventionincludes a longitudinal supporting block which I will hereinafter referto as a spinal member or spine, and which comprises a butt end II and aseat portion l0 preferably ellipsoidal in shape and having upper andlower faces l2 and I3, respectively. The spinal member is provided witha pair of angular transverse slots [4 and I5 where the upper andlowerfaces I! and 13, respectively, terminate in the butt ll, these slotspreferably extending clear across the spine. A flexible leafI6,-preferably made of birchwood or other suitable material. and ofsubstantially the same width as the spinal member, is inserted in theslot I4 and. extends angularly over the face I2 in spaced relationthereto, to a point adjacent the end thereof. A similar flexible leaf His seated in the groove l5 and extends angularly under and spaced fromthe lower face [3 of the spinal member. The

outer ends of the leaves l6 and I! may be provided with holes I8 and I9,respectively, to permit the endsof the strips to be tied together in apartially stressed position such as shown in- Fig. 3.

If desired, the leaf l6 may be provided with a centrally disposed ridgeor key 2| (seen best in Fig. 9) adapted to slide into a complementalgroove or keyway 20 in the upper face of the slot l4 in butt ll. Leaf l1may be provided with a similar key 23 fitting into a complemental keyway2?. Said keys prevent the leaves It and I! from moving laterally intheir respective slots, and therefore minimize the strain on the gluewith which the ends of the leaves l6 and I! are preferably coated priorto insertion in the slotsl4 and i5.

1 In using the spring assembly of my invention,

it is preferably mounted on a relatively rigid baseboard orback'board'25 in partially stressed or flexed condition as seen in Fig.3. A convenient way to stress the spring is to tie the outer ends of theleaves l6 and I! together with a string 24 so that their outer portionsare substantially parallel to each other. One of the'leaves; -l I; inFig. 3, is then mounted on the base board 25 in suitable manner, and ifit is desired to fasten it' to'the base board, means such as a nail ortack 26 may be used. In this position, the spinal member floats betweenthe base board 25 and a covering strip 21, and is free to move in avertical path and also horizontally as the leaves I6 and I! arecompressed. By this means the outer ends of the leaves move in a. truevertical path when compressed and eliminate frictional wear on thecovering, and the net increase in length of the unit is taken up byhorizontal movement of the spine which will move to the left when thespring is compressed to the position shown in Fig. 4.

When a weight or other force is applied to the top of the springassembly, the spring unit will be depressed downwardly, causing flexingof both the upper leaf l6 and the lower leaf H. The

curved portion ID of the spine acts as a support and safety stop for theleaves Hi and I! and the curvature of the faces l2 and i3 of the spineis approximately that which the leaves assume under full stressedcondition, so that when they have been compressed to the allowable pointthey will rest on they supporting faces l2 and I3 and be in engagementtherewith, throughout most of their length, thus eliminating thepossibility of the leaves being broken by over-stressing. The angleassumed by the leaves under stressed condition will of course dependsomewhat upon the material used, the dimensions of the leaves, and theexact point of application of the force. However, with suitable carethese curves can be determined with sufficient exactness so that theupper and lower faces l2 and I3 can be formed to correspond thereto,thus giving maximum protection against failure. I

, Referring now to Figs. -8, thenum'eral 4'3 indicates an elongatedspinal member having a butt end 4| and a semi-ellipsoidal portion 42,the latter having upper and lower supporting faces 45 and 43.Intermediate the butt 4| and ellipsoidal portion 42, the upper and lowerfaces of the spinal, member 40 are provided with a series of angularlylaterally across. said,

disposed slots extending faces in a manner similar to slots I4 and|5 ofthe spring assembly shown in Figs. 14.

Between successive slots on the same face of curved to provide a thespinal block, the face is plurality of supporting seats 45a and 45b, and46a and 561), respectively. A plurality of flexible leaves 41,4111 and41b, and 68,4Sa and 48?), are

inserted in the slots in the upperandlower faces,

respectively, in a manner similar to that e mployed in the first form ofmy invention.

It will thus be seen (Fig. '7) that when the plural spring assemblybuilt around the spinal.

member 40 is mounted on a base board 25 and the resilient leaves arepartially stressed by cords or other suitable means, that the leaveswill overlap each other and form a continuous spring member. 7 fromabove, the leaves will flex until they assume the substantiallyhorizontal position shown inv Fig. 8, at which point they will engagetheir re spective seats and be supported thereby. In 1 other words, theresilient leaf 4'! will engage the curved seat 45, while leaf Ala. willengage seat;

If desired,the leaves in the plural spring form As stress is applied tothe assembly of my invention may also be provided with flanges or keyssimilar to the flanges 29 and 2| of the first form illustrated, toincrease the stability of the assembly. In arranging a plurality ofspring assemblies, they may be disposed so that alternate units face inthe opposite direction, or they may all face the same direction. Ineither case, it is advisable to tie the various spring elements togetherso as to provide a stable structure. As in the first form shown, thelower leaves 48, 48a, and 48b, may be nailed to the base board 25 or maybe secured in place by other suitable means.

It will be observed that an unsupported or springless area existsimmediately above and bedition is sometimes undesirable.

low the butt end 4| unless the end leaf is located quite near the outeredge of the butt, which con- To remedy this situation when it occurs,supplemental or auxiliary leaves and leaf-supporting blocks may be usedas seen in Figs. 5-8, inclusive. A relatively short supporting block 56having an angular slot on its upper face is cut to rest on the butt 4|and the base portion of leaf 412), being held in position by anysuitable means. A short leaf 5| is placed in the angular slot andextends over the base of leaf 41b, thus filling out what would otherwisebe dead space at that point. It will be understood of course that thisdead space can also be minimizedby reducing the size of the butt 4| orby reinforcing it to allow the insertion of an auxiliary leaf quite nearthe free end of the butt.

It is apparent that by the structures herein described, I secure amaximum of resiliency with a minimum thickness of spring assembl andthat the springs can be used in all types of spring structure withoutfear of failure.

While-the forms of my invention herein illus-- trated and described indetail are fully capable of attaining the objects and providing theadvan-: tages hereinbefore stated, it is to be understood that they aremerely illustrative of my invention and that I do not mean to be limitedto the forms shown, but intend to include all equivalent forms asdefined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A spring assembly which includes: a spinal member having a portionof, its opposite faces curved longitudinally with an angular slot at one1 end of each curved face; and flexible leavesmounted in said slots andextending angularly over said curvedportions, whereby, said leaves canbe flexed toward said spinal member.

, 2. A spring assembly which includes:v a spinal; member comprising ablock having its. faces curved for a portion of their length with a sloton. each of said block; an auxiliary leaf holding block "mounted on saidspinal, member adjacent said;

slot, said auxiliary member having a curved seat; and an angular slottherein; and a-flexible leaf in said last named slot and overlying oneofsaid a first mentioned leaves.

3. A spring assembly which includes a-sbiiiai, member comprising anelongated block having" a plurality of curved seats an itsoppositeiaces, separated by angular slots; and afflexiblelleaf mountedin each of said slots and'extendingangularly from and longitudinally-ofsai d blo ckhin overlying relation, the 'curvature'jof said seats" beingsubstantiallythat assumed by said eaveswhen they are substantiallyfullyflexed, said as- 7 .sembly being adapted to be mountedwith-oneset ofleaves engaging a base board so that pressure on the opposite leavescauses flexing of all leaves.

4. In a spring assembly, a leaf supporting block having its oppositefaces formed as a plurality of curved segments separated by tangentialslots, each slot being adapted to receive a flexible leaf, the curvatureof said segments being substantially that assumed by their respectiveleaves when mounted and flexed.

5. In a spring assembly, a leaf-supporting block having its oppositefaces formed as a plurality of curved segments separated by tangentialslots, each slot being adapted to receive a flexible leaf, whereby saidleaves will overlie each other in spaced relationship.

6. A spring assembly which includes: leaf supporting means having itsopposite faces formed as a plurality of curved segments separated bytangential slots; and flexible leaves in said slots extending over saidcurved segments and overlying each other in spaced relationship,

7. A spring assembly which includes: a spinal member having its oppositefaces curved for a portion of their length with a slot in each face atthe base of the curve and substantially tangential thereto; and aflexible leaf in each of said slots extending outwardly andlongitudinally of said spinal member, whereby said leaves will be flexedsimultaneously when a load is applied thereto.

EDWARD ROBEY.

